Nigel Pearson left the club last week after a furious bust up with Morris

He said: "There was one comment on social media that was quite interesting. It said 'Mel Morris needs to be beheaded, the bald-headed clown'.

"If you imagine now, the first time you hear of that is when your grandson calls you fearing for your life because someone at school has shown him that, and you'll get a backdrop of what it's like [to run a football club]."

He spoke out at a Q&A for business leaders in Derby, but used the platform to call on fans to unite behind the club as a "twelfth man" to help the players recover from a poor start to the season.

It comes after a few years of near misses for a return to the top flight for the first time since 2008, with many fans wanting Morris, one of Britian's richest men, to sign more players.

But he urged fans to keep their expectations "realistic". He added: "I don't know how you contain the word 'expectation'.

"We have no entitlement to Premier League football. I might also add, that for this season, it's cheaper for a family of four this season to go and watch the majority of our home games than last season.

"So the only person paying to raise the expectation is me. The supporters aren't paying any more for it. So the bottom line to it is, what is this expectation level being fuelled by?

"We have to go through life keeping our expectations in balance. And I think at this football club, let's get real.

"Look at Brighton at the moment. Hey, they failed to go up last season – but does that make them a failure? No. It's a well-run club. And we're a well-run club.

"We happen to have had a couple of hiccups with managerial appointments. That's it. Can I guarantee the next one will knock it out the park? No.

"I can't get in his office and bash his hands every day with a hammer and say 'give me a win on Saturday'. I can't guarantee all the players are going to get on with that manager.

Assistant Chris Powell (left) has been backed to succeed after taking temporary charge after Pearson was sacked

"Should I care? It's easier if they do get on and of course I would like that to be the case. But fundamentally, expectation is not an entitlement."

Earlier in the session, former flooring salesman Morris, who made his fortune backing the popular game Candy Crush and took sole control of the club a year ago, said the club needed supporters to rally behind the club and its players.

He said: "I've been thinking about the word 'fan'. Let's define that word. A fan can mean someone who's fanatical or someone who's really interested in something.

"You can be a fan at both ends of the spectrum. I prefer the word 'supporters'. If you're a supporter, you cease being one if you no longer support.

"There's a clear distinction between the two. If we're going to get this club back to the top, I need the people out in the stadium to understand our plan, the commitment going into it and back it.

"If people do that with us, that twelfth man will turn up and we'll actually enjoy more wins and a team that's more enthused about playing.

He did accept that fans felt "confused" about what the club's plan was and accepted this was "the club's fault" as it "hasn't been communicated well enough".